n. a small figure of a person operated from above with strings by a puppeteer

Etymologies

French marionnette, from Old French, musical instrument, diminutive of mariole, the Virgin Mary (influenced by the name Marion), from diminutive of Marie, Mary, from Late Latin Maria; see Mary.

(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

French marionnette. One of the first figures to be made into a marionette was the Virgin Mary, hence the name. (Wiktionary)

Examples

The boy who would be king took on a number of iconic roles in his early days; in 1994, he voiced Simba in "The Lion King," and in the two subsequent years, he played Tom Sawyer in "Tom and Huck," and the title marionette/boy in "Pinnochio."

Bringing home with him the interest he developed for puppet theater in China, Ruizendaal returned in 1991 to the Netherlands where he entered the doctoral program at Leiden University and specialized in Chinese marionette theater.

From time to time a hare would run between Pinocchio's feet, and after a few bounds would turn sharply around to stare at him with curious eyes, as much as to say that a marionette was a comical sight.

WASHINGTON - Billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, formerly No. 1 on Bill Clinton's enemies list as the so-called "marionette" of the "vast right-wing conspiracy," met with the former president for two hours this week, offering to help him with his global initiative.